Until All Bonds Are Broken

by Tim Frankovich

  “What do you think of them?” she asked Ixchel as she tied one of the cords to a tree branch.

  “They’re acceptable,” Ixchel said. “For those of you who care about privacy.”

  Seri giggled. “Not the curtains. I meant the men.”

  “Oh.” Ixchel didn’t answer for a moment. “The one I fought is a capable warrior.”

  “Victor? The magic he’s drawing from Marshal is fascinating. It binds them together.”

  “They’re Bonded?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I mean, I can’t see Bindings. But it might have practically the same effect on them. I wonder if they know that.”

  “They seem to be good friends.” Ixchel paused. “What about you, my Lady? Do you feel all right?”

  “I’m tired, but that’s all. Why?”

  Ixchel gave another tug on a knot, then lowered her hands and looked at Seri. “You almost died. I was certain you had died. Yet you stand here as if nothing happened.”

  Seri looked down. “I, I’m trying not to think about that.”

  “It seems somewhat important.”

  “I don’t know.” Seri took a deep breath. “It hurt so much. And then I just… fell asleep, I guess. I started to dream something about the stars of the Otherworld… and then I was back. And it didn’t hurt any more.”

  Ixchel frowned, but did not answer.

  With the curtains completed, they moved to prepare their own bedrolls. Forerunner’s assistants had already started a fire nearby. This far into Spring, the nights no longer felt frigid, but could still be cool.

  Seri looked over the tear in her robe. The spear itself had not made a large hole, but someone had torn it open further to remove the spear or try to help her some other way. She looked at the ragged edges and fought back a lump in her throat. The blue robes meant so much to her, the symbol of her rank as a full mage. If she couldn’t wear them, she might have to resort to her old orange acolyte robes. Ugh.

  “I’ll mend it for you,” Ixchel said.

  Seri looked up. “You can sew?”

  Ixchel almost shrugged. “I can do some basic mending. Nothing very well.”

  “Ixchel, that would be fantastic!”

  “Get them off and I’ll see what I can do.”

  After Seri changed into her sleep clothes, Ixchel sat and began manipulating a needle and thread. She seemed frustrated with the robe. Seri watched for a few moments, but couldn’t keep silent.

  “This is so exciting! We’ve found him, Ixchel! Marshal. The one with the power. He can save Antises. I just know it!”

  “I am pleased.” She didn’t look it.

  “So. We let him finish this trip to Ch’olan. That shouldn’t take long, should it? I don’t know how far we are from Ch’olan, but I can’t imagine it being that far. And then we can return to Zes Sivas. Jamana will be so excited. We call the Lords back, we have a new Passing, and then Marshal will heal the land. And be the new King!”

  Ixchel grunted. She yanked at her thread. It didn’t pull as far as she wanted it to. She yanked harder.

  Malena, Forerunner’s blonde assistant, came up behind her. “I would be happy to fix that for you,” she offered. “I spent two years as a seamstress in Raeton.”

  “You’re from Rasna?” Seri said. “I thought all of you were from Varioch.”

  “Most are,” she answered with a smile. “But there are a few of us.”

  “The war didn’t stop you, I guess.”

  “No. May I?” she offered to Ixchel again.

  Ixchel threw the robe into her arms. “Do what you can.”

  “We all have our skills,” Malena said. She left them alone.

  Ixchel glared at her hands. Seri considered leaving her alone, but then who could she talk to?

  “I wonder if I can get a message to Master Korda somehow. Maybe we can travel near the coast on our way to Ch’olan.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  Seri looked up. “What?” She could not ever remember Ixchel looking at her that way.

  Ixchel shook her head. “Volraag. He stole power from one of the Lords. Why would they return? You need his power to be part of the Passing. But he won’t come. And if he did, who would trust him?”

  Seri felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured on her head. Of course. They had to solve the problem of Volraag before anything else could happen.

  She jumped to her feet. “I’ll talk to Marshal about this. Maybe together we can find Volraag.” She started toward the curtains.

  “My Lady.”

  “Yes?”

  “Perhaps you would like to wait until morning? Or at least until you have gotten dressed again.”

  Seri stopped. She really had been about to walk over to the men’s camp in only her sleep clothes. She turned back and sat down.

  “Ixchel. If I didn’t have you with me, I don’t know what I’d do.”

  “If you didn’t have me with you, you’d be dead.”

  “Of embarrassment.”

  Ixchel actually chuckled. “You can laugh!” Seri gasped.

  “Of course I can laugh.”

  “But you never do!”

  “Does that displease you?”

  “It’s not about what I think. You should laugh more often. It’s… good for you.”

  “I’ll consider it, then.”

  Seri snorted.

  Marshal found the curse squad around the fire, plying Dravid with questions about his traveling companions. It seemed only natural for them to be curious, but some of the talk bothered him.

  “It’ll be strange to have so many foreigners,” Rufus mused.

  “How do you think I feel?” Dravid asked. “I haven’t seen another native of Kuktarma in months!”

  “Welcome to my world,” Topleb said. “Being only proper-colored man around all these Variochs.”

  “People are people,” Dravid said, shrugging. “I saw all kinds on Zes Sivas.”

  The reference to Zes Sivas inspired multiple new lines of conversation, before Gnaeus brought it back to traveling arrangements. “What’s it like being around so many women?”

  “You’re about to find out!” Dravid gestured toward the area where the women hung curtains for privacy.

  “Do they do that every night?”

  “Forerunner’s women do.”

  “The other two don’t?”

  Marshal stepped up. “That’s enough, men. Whichever group you travel with, you will treat the women with respect. Is that understood?”

  The soldiers mumbled their assent. Marshal glanced at Victor, who nodded. He didn’t want to be harsh with the men. But knowledge of what his mother had been through made him want to be careful about such things. He thought he knew all of them, but they faced a new situation. All of his experience with them came from war and travel. They grew close through circumstances, but what did he really know about them?

  Marshal finished putting his pack together and tightened the strap. A new morning awaited, with new traveling companions and all sorts of new possibilities. One of them approached right now.

  Seri strode up to him. Someone had done an expert job in repairing her robe. He couldn’t even see where it had been torn. It struck him that he felt slightly disappointed he wouldn’t be able to catch glimpses of her stomach any longer. He shook that thought off, though it did make him smile.

  “We need to find Volraag!” she said without any other greeting.

  “Um, good morning. I slept well, thank you.”

  Seri actually blushed a little. It was… cute. Her darker skin took on a funny tint in her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I get ideas in my head and I just talk too much, especially if I’m excited about something, and I sometimes can’t stop myself.”

  “I… can’t say I’ve ever had that problem.”

  “Most people say that. You… oh. That’s right. You literally couldn’t talk.”

  Marshal nodded. “Until just a few weeks ago.”

  “What w
as that like?”

  Marshal wrinkled his brow. “What was it like? I… don’t know how to answer that. I couldn’t talk. Or anything. It took effort just to remember what nodding and shaking my head meant.”

  “You were trapped inside your own head,” she said. “How horrible.”

  “What were you saying about Volraag?” Sympathy was the last thing he wanted from Seri. But as that thought went by, his mind quickly followed it with further consideration of what he did want from her. He pushed those thoughts back. Focus, Marshal!

  “Oh, yes. Volraag. We need to find him.”

  “Did you miss the part of my story yesterday about leaving him behind at the battlefield? That’s the last we know of him. And why would we want to find him, anyway?” He stood up to face her.

  “He has one of the Lord’s powers. We need him.”

  “Oh. You mean on Zes Sivas.”

  “Yes. To save Antises.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think my half-brother is interested in saving Antises.”

  Seri tilted her head. “You know, you don’t look like him at all.”

  “Volraag? No, I don’t think I do, either.”

  “Except maybe in the facial structure. It’s hard to tell for sure, with the…” She stopped herself, but reached a hand out toward Marshal’s face. He didn’t move. Sympathy it might be, but he wouldn’t turn down a touch from her. Her fingers brushed ever so lightly against the largest scar on his cheek. She pulled her hand back abruptly. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right.”

  “So, um, anyway. We need to find Volraag and persuade him to come. It’s the only way.”

  “You really believe that all of Antises is in danger from this?”

  “You’ve felt the earthquakes, haven’t you? Everything might tear apart.”

  “I don’t think I can form this ‘heart of fire’ thing you talked about.”

  “You won’t know that unless you come.”

  Marshal nodded. With just the two of them talking, he found he wanted to do whatever she asked, if only to see her continue to smile and talk.

  “I can… I can try to detect Volraag’s power. When he’s near, I can feel him.”

  “Oh! Yes, I can do that too. Shall we try it together?”

  Marshal blinked. “I’m not sure how that would work.”

  Seri held out her hand. “Give me your hand.” Marshal took it, surprised by how soft it felt. “I think it will work better if you close your eyes,” she said. “I’ll use my star-sight to help focus my senses.”

  Marshal did as she told him, but he peeked out to observe Seri’s actions. She waved her hand in the air as if trying to find something. He closed his eyes and focused himself again. He could immediately sense the power of Forerunner and Wolf behind him. He ignored them and reached out in his mind toward the south.

  “I’ve only been able to sense him when we were very close,” he said. “Unless he’s been chasing us, I’m not sure this will work.”

  “Just try,” Seri said. “You didn’t have me with you before. Open yourself up.”

  “How?”

  “Picture your power as closed inside a sealed room within you.”

  “All right…”

  “Then open that door.”

  Marshal frowned. The analogy felt off, but he could try it. He formed the image in his mind and opened the door. At the same time, he willed himself to let Seri do whatever she wanted.

  Almost at once, he felt something flow from him into her hand. “Oh!” she exclaimed.

  “What is it?”

  She took a deep breath and let it out. “I did this once with Master Hain, but it was nothing like this. This is… incredible.”

  Marshal felt something flowing from her into his arm as well. But she had no power of her own, did she? What could that be? He opened his eyes and gasped.

  Multi-colored beams of light swirled around both of them. He saw every color in the spectrum sweeping around him, crossing over the other beams, intersecting them, creating new shades, then splitting back up. Everything beyond the beams looked dull and fuzzy. His hand began to loosen from Seri’s. She grabbed it tighter. “Don’t let go!”

  “I can… see the colors!”

  “And I can feel your power. I think I’m going to explode! It’s so much!”

  “Are you all right?” Anxiety instantly replaced wonder.

  “I can handle it. This is fantastic! I don’t… whoa. Is that my voice?” As she spoke, her tones began to vibrate. Marshal recognized it as similar to Forerunner’s voice. He looked to Seri’s face. Her eyes shone bright, with a gleaming point of light in the left eye outshining everything else. Thin beams of purple light escaped from her mouth when she spoke again. “I can’t… I don’t know what’s happening.”

  “I don’t, either.” All he knew was that he never wanted it to stop. The spectacular colors danced across his view, while the rush of power through their arms vibrated throughout his body.

  “It’s too much!” Seri’s hand released his. The colors faded in seconds. His arm jerked as their connection broke. It felt sore.

  Seri bent over, then fell to her knees.

  “Seri!” He fell beside her, reaching for her.

  She put her hands up, but they shook. “I’ll be all right. Just a moment.” She clenched her hands into fists, then released them. The shaking came to a stop.

  Ixchel appeared out of nowhere next to her. “My Lady?”

  “I’m fine. I’m fine.” She looked up at Marshal. “I’m sorry for breaking it off. That was… spectacular! We need to do it again!”

  “Not if it hurts you,” he said. Ixchel shot him a look.

  “It’s all right. I’ll learn how to control it.” Seri got to her feet with Ixchel’s help.

  “We should, uh, get ready to move out for the day,” Marshal said.

  Seri nodded. “I need to finish packing.”

  As the two girls moved away, Victor approached. Marshal remained sitting on the ground. He chuckled.

  “Victor, I think I’m going to love that girl.”

  Victor snorted. “Too obvious.”

  Dravid created a palm-sized disc of golden light. He closed his eyes, focused for a moment, and found the magic of Antises calling to him. He absorbed it, opened his eyes, and released it as a vibratory wave against the disc.

  Nothing happened.

  Frustrated, he released the magic that held the disc intact and watched it dissolve. How had Marshal blown apart his shield? He couldn’t generate enough power to even damage a tiny bit of the gold magic. Forerunner’s barrier had held off the power of an earthquake. How much power did Marshal have?

  If Seri were right, and he truly possessed the power of the King, it would be something like three times that of a Lord. Dravid had a hard time comprehending it. How could a person contain that much power? Marshal wasn’t even a big man. He was… average in size, at best. Ordinary. It seemed impossible.

  He felt the presence before he looked up to see who had approached him. Wolf. Or Calu. Or whatever he called himself.

  “When will you be ready to pay the price?” he asked. His voice resonated with magic like Forerunner’s.

  “The price?”

  “For the healing.”

  In all the tumult, Dravid had forgotten that detail. “You haven’t told me what the price is.”

  “When will you be ready?”

  “I don’t know. How can I know if I don’t know what it is?”

  “I will require it when I leave this realm.” With that, Wolf turned and walked away with heavy strides. Now there went a body able to contain power. And yet he had been smaller before, and still held it somehow. Or had he? Forerunner hadn’t exactly explained what happened there.

  Dravid got up and moved toward the others. Everyone seemed ready to set out for the day. He looked around at the group and smiled without humor. Yesterday morning, he had been one of two males in a group with nine females. Now he was
one of seven males in a group with only two females.

  Yet one of those was the only female that mattered.

  Forerunner stepped up beside him. Great. “Ah, Dravid, my friend. I wanted to assure you that I haven’t forgotten you.” He paused. “Unlike some people.” He looked in the direction of Seri, who seemed to be in quite a conversation with Marshal.

  “What do you want, Forerunner?”

  “To assure you I still intend to keep my word to you. Of course, one could argue that I’ve already restored a purpose to your life. You can be a mage again, in a different way than you planned.”

  “You didn’t do that!”

  “Didn’t I? Ah, well. I don’t count it, either. I will restore to you what you choose. Once you choose.”

  “Can you restore to me whatever it is that your friend takes from me?”

  “My friend?”

  Dravid pointed at the tall figure of Calu.

  Forerunner seemed uncertain. “He… wants to take something from you?”

  “He says I must pay the price for Seri’s healing.”

  “Oh. Oh, dear.”

  “What?”

  “If someone like Calu requires a price, you can be sure that it will be significant. I don’t believe I can help you there.”

  “Then what good are you?” Dravid growled the words with more savagery than he actually felt.

  “I apologize. I will… leave you to your own thoughts. I’m sure they will keep you in good company.”

  Forerunner hurried away to Calu’s side. At that moment, Marshal called for everyone to set out. Led by Topleb, the group began walking. For a very brief moment, Dravid wondered what would happen if he simply didn’t follow. But that path led to complete insignificance and failure. He had enough of that. He began walking.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

  VICTOR TOOK A deep breath and approached the girls. They seemed engrossed in a detailed examination of Seri’s pack. “Excuse me?”

  Seri looked up. “Oh, Victor. What is it?”